This is one of the few times I can remember that patience didn't pay off.

I was flying a mission in the "Tempest Wing" campaign last night, one where me and a wingman had to fly to a Luftwaffe base and take out a Me-262 as he comes in for a landing. Pretty straight forward stuff.

We get near the base, and I see the Me-262, he's at my 2 o'clock low, flying directly across my nose, I believe I was at 2000 ft at the time, at about 220 knots. I figure, what the hell, I'll dive on him and he'll be dead. So, I dove, and I should have known better. I'm really not so good at this kind of shooting, I always wind up shooting too late, which is exactly what happened in this case.

So, I pass him, cut throttle and pull up to my left, and the 262 pulls up and takes off. I gun the engine, hit WEP, and hope for the best, but of course he's pulling away. We were above the clouds, don't recall the height, he continued to pull away and I'm at the edge of a stall, barely keeping my nose up at 60 knots. I resigned myself to not getting this one, so I drop my nose and build some speed. Next thing you know I see tracers go by my canopy, so I snap roll to the left and pull up, the 262 goes by right below me.

I think I might have another chance at him, but again he pulls up and climbs away. I couldn't get the Tempest around in time to get a shot off, the closest I was able to come to him was just over 1000 meters.

So, I'm right back to where I was a minute ago, at stall speed and no way of catching him. Again, I figure it's done and I dive away. The 262 gives chase again, and the meathead misses again. He pulls up in a climbing turn, I do the same.

This time, I'm looking at the clock, and I see that my laundry is done. Damn. I should go take care of that. So, I think to heck with it, I'll just fire at him and maybe I'll get lucky. I point my nose up at him, he's at 1000 meters and moving away, I pull the trigger and just hold it.

Wouldn't you know it, I hit the sucker. Both engines caught fire. I couldn't believe it. I must have used half my ammo, and I certainly didn't think I would actually hit him!

The funny thing is, I fried my engine with that sorte, being a meathead I left the WEP on through most of the dogfight. I made it back over to friendly lines, the engine quit a couple of miles from the base, and I was able to belly land near by.

And, wouldn't you know it, I forgot to record it. ARGH!

As I'm cursing myself for not hitting that damn quick record key, My daughter walks over and says "Daddy, what's wrong? Did you crash?". She says this alot to me.

I think it goes without saying that I need to work on deflection shooting, particularly in a dive. I don't think I'll be able to get that lucky again for a while.

This is one of the few times I can remember that patience didn't pay off.

I was flying a mission in the "Tempest Wing" campaign last night, one where me and a wingman had to fly to a Luftwaffe base and take out a Me-262 as he comes in for a landing. Pretty straight forward stuff.

We get near the base, and I see the Me-262, he's at my 2 o'clock low, flying directly across my nose, I believe I was at 2000 ft at the time, at about 220 knots. I figure, what the hell, I'll dive on him and he'll be dead. So, I dove, and I should have known better. I'm really not so good at this kind of shooting, I always wind up shooting too late, which is exactly what happened in this case.

So, I pass him, cut throttle and pull up to my left, and the 262 pulls up and takes off. I gun the engine, hit WEP, and hope for the best, but of course he's pulling away. We were above the clouds, don't recall the height, he continued to pull away and I'm at the edge of a stall, barely keeping my nose up at 60 knots. I resigned myself to not getting this one, so I drop my nose and build some speed. Next thing you know I see tracers go by my canopy, so I snap roll to the left and pull up, the 262 goes by right below me.

I think I might have another chance at him, but again he pulls up and climbs away. I couldn't get the Tempest around in time to get a shot off, the closest I was able to come to him was just over 1000 meters.

So, I'm right back to where I was a minute ago, at stall speed and no way of catching him. Again, I figure it's done and I dive away. The 262 gives chase again, and the meathead misses again. He pulls up in a climbing turn, I do the same.

This time, I'm looking at the clock, and I see that my laundry is done. Damn. I should go take care of that. So, I think to heck with it, I'll just fire at him and maybe I'll get lucky. I point my nose up at him, he's at 1000 meters and moving away, I pull the trigger and just hold it.

Wouldn't you know it, I hit the sucker. Both engines caught fire. I couldn't believe it. I must have used half my ammo, and I certainly didn't think I would actually hit him!

The funny thing is, I fried my engine with that sorte, being a meathead I left the WEP on through most of the dogfight. I made it back over to friendly lines, the engine quit a couple of miles from the base, and I was able to belly land near by.

And, wouldn't you know it, I forgot to record it. ARGH!

As I'm cursing myself for not hitting that damn quick record key, My daughter walks over and says "Daddy, what's wrong? Did you crash?". She says this alot to me.

I think it goes without saying that I need to work on deflection shooting, particularly in a dive. I don't think I'll be able to get that lucky again for a while.